Combination tie plate and rail gripper



March 31, 1931. J. w. HOOD comamnxou TIE PLATE AND RAIL GRIPPER FiledMay 29, 1930 2 Shets-Sheet 1 z I /I I /]l I a I z 1 7 22 M v March31,1931; 1w, HOOD 1,798,673

COMBINATION TIE PLATE AND RAIL GRIPPER Filed May 29, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet2 1/ 2 ,/4 I U Fig. 5.

I I m iii Patented Mar. 31, 1931 UNITED STATES JOHN w. 1-1001), orSALEM, VIRGINIA COMBINATION TIE PLATE AND RAIL GRIIPER Application filedMay 29,

This invention relates to a combined tie plate and rail chair, and oneobject of the invention is to provide a device of this character whichwill serve very effectively as a tie 6 plate and also as means forsupporting a rail and firmly holding the rail in a set position when inplace.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the improved railchair and tie 10 plate that when it is in use a rail will be firmlybraced against outward thrust by the wheels of a car and prevented fromturning over and thereby preventdanger of a wreck due to spreadingrails. p r

Another object of the invention is to provide the rail plate with awedge serving to firmly brace the base of a rail against trans-' versemovement upon the plate and so form this wedge that when spikes aredriven through spike-receiving openings in the wedge and plate anddriven into a tie the wedge will be properly held in place and thespikes prevented from working loose.

Another object of the invention is to so form the plate and itscooperating wedge that when the device is in use rails will be veryfirmly gripped. This prevents the rail from creeping and also preventslongitudinal distortion of the rails. Another object of the invention isto provide a device of this character so constructed that a rail may bevery easily set in place or removed but cannot accidentally slip out ofproper engagement with the rail chair or plate when secured thereon andfurther to prevent danger of spikes becoming cut and weakened near theirheads by side edges of a rail base.

The invention is illustrated panying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is aperspective view of the improved rail plate, a rail restingthereon'being indicated by dotted lines, 7 Fig. 2 is a sectional viewtaken transversely through the rail and rail plate and showing themanner in which the plate is firmly secured upon a tie,

in the accom 40 r Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken longitudinallythrough the wedge and the portion of the tie plate upon'which it rests.

1930. Serial no.'457,13o.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of thetie plate, Fig. 5 is a perspectiveview of the wedge looking at the under face thereof, 7

Fig. dis a fragmentary view showing a modified form of wedge in topplan, and J Fig. 7 is a sectional view through a rail plate with themodified form of wedge applied thereto.

The improved tie plate, indicated in general by the numeral 1, is formedof steel or any other desired strong metal and along one side isthickened, as shown at 2, to form a .thickened side portion from whichprojects an inwardly extending flange 3 spaced above the uppersurface'of the tie plate. The upper face of the plate is shaped todefine surfaces 4: and 5, the surface 5 being relatively narrow andextending at a downward incline toward the outer edge of the plate,whereas the surface 4 extends at an incline from its inter section withthe inner edge of the surface 5 to the inner edge of the thickenedportion 2. Therefore, when a rail 6-is set in place upon thejsur'facebase bearing against and extending beneath lugs rising from the base inspaced relation to each other longitudinally of the intersecting edgesof thesurfaces 4L and 5 the rail will be inclined slightly instead ofextending perpendicularly and lean inwardly of a track. Thiswill causethe wheels of a train of cars to rest fiat against the upper face of therail head and prevent the rail head from being worn unevenly. and'alsoprevent danger of the wheels jumping the track; A. brace 8 rises fromthe base plate intermediate the lugs 7 and this brace extends inwardlyin close contacting engagement with the rail base and terminates in anarm 9 extending upwardly in contacting engagement with the web oftherail with its upper end bearing against the under face of the railhead. Since the braceis substantially triangular in shape as shownclearly inFigures land 2, the rail will be firmly braced against outwardthrust and will be prevented from turning over when subjected topressure exerted by the wheels of a train of cars. Openings 11 and 12are formedthrough we 4 with'the outer side edge of its 75 drivenaccurately into the tie and the prongs The proportions are such that the16 are arranged in a U-shaped path between the openings 11 and 12, asshown in Figure 1, and adapted to be embedded in the tie, as shown inFigure 2, in orderto firmly brace the plate and prevent the plate fromhaving movement longitudinally of a'tie. By this arrangementthe tieplate will be held firmly in place upon a tie when the prongs areembedded in the tie andthe spikes driven into place and prevented fromhavingmovement either longitudinally or transversely upon a tie.

:After the tie plates have been set in place upon ties, the rail islowered into position and one side portion of the rail base engagedbeneath the lugs 7 and braceS. Abutting rails are properly alinedwitheach other and spikes may then be driven through the openings 12 inorder to hold the tie plates in their proper positions upon the ties.The prongs extending downwardly from the tie plates bite into the tieand thetie plates may be struck with a hammer in order to force theseprongs into the ties until the plates rest firmly upon the ties. I r p 1In order to firmly hold a rail in place upon each tie plate, there hasbeen provided a wedge or filler 17 which is also formed of strong metal,such as steel. This filler consistsof a. thick strip which fits intoplace between the thickened side portion or abutment 2 of theplate andthe adjacent sideedge of the rail base, and it should benoted that thestrip 17 tapers from the end carrying the side arm or head 18 towardsits other end.

Therefore, the filler when driven into'place will fit firmly between therail baseand thickened side portion of the plate and can-' not readilyslip out of itsf'proper position. fi ler will have a tight wedging fitby the timethe head contacts with the edge face of the tie plate. Aflange or lip 19 extends from the filler strip for engagement beneaththe flange 3 of the tie plate and from the inner side of the fillerstrip extends a flange 20 which overlaps and restsjflat upon theupper'face ofthe rail base; Openings 21 are formed through-the fillerstrip, and it should be noted that these openings are so located thattheir innersides open throughthe inner edge face of the filler stripbeneath the flange 20 so that when the filler strip is driven into placeand spikes driven through these openings and through theopeningsjll intoa tie the spikes will bear against the inner side if the filler stripshould expand longitudi- V nally when subjected to heat during summerweather, the spikes will not be damaged. It should also be noted thatthis enlarging of the openings 21 allows the filler strip to be driveninto place until the arm or head 18 bears against the edge face of thetie plate and. insuresproper registry of the openings 21 with theopenings 11. Between the openings 21 and-"the free side edge of theflange 20 are formed thickened portions 22 which extend at an upwardincline from the openings towards their outer edges, as shown in Figure3,-in order to conform to the incline of the under surface of a spikehead and allow the spike head to have flat contacting engage ment withthe thickened portion when driven into ,place, as shown in Figure 2.,Each thickened portion 22 gradually increases in thickness from itsintermediate portion towards its ends and then decreases in thickness,as shown clearly in Figuresl and 3, thereby forming each thickenedportion into a seat adapted to snugly receive the head of afspike withportions of the seat rising from opposite sides of the spike head andvery effectively preventing the wedge from mov ing longitudinally out ofplace after it has been once driven into place and the spikes driveninto the tie. Therefore the rails will be very firmly secured upon theirplates and the plates firmly held upon the ties. Since the ties are laidtwo feet apart from center, to-center'and each tie carries one of theimproved tie (plates, each rail will be very firmly gripped at two feetintervals throughout its length and securely held in place.

In Figures 6 and 7 there has-been shown a slightly modified embodimentof the invention.- Referring to these Figures, it will be seenthat thefiller strip 23 is formed with openings2 1 to register with the openings11 of the tie plate and is also formed with seats 25 corresponding tothe seats 22 and adapted to receivethe heads ofspikes driven through theopenings 24 and 11 into a tie. This filler' strip is alsoprovided with ahead 26 corre-, sponding to the head 18 and adapted to bear against aside edge face of the tie plate beneath a rail base. The filler strip isreduced in. thickness towards its outer side edge instead of beingformed with a lip or flange 19, and the flange 26 projecting from thethickene'd side portion 2 of the tie plate is gradually reduced inthickness towards its free side edge and extends at an upward incline,as shown in Figure 7, so that it may overlap the filler strip when thefiller strip is driven into place. After a tie plate and fillerstripvcon structed as shownineither Figure 2 or Figure 7 has been in usefor sometime, the inner side'edge face of the filler strip against whichthe side edge of the rail base bears may be come worn so that the fillerstrip does not lit tightly in place or it may be found that wheninitially applied the filler strip does not fit tightly into place dueto inaccuracies occuring when the plates and filler strips are made. Inorder to prevent the filler strip from being loose when set in place,there has been provided a strand 27 formed of wire. This wire strand isfitted into place beneath the flange 26 or beneath the flange 3 and hasits ends bent, as shown at 28, to engage ends of the thickened sideportion of the tie plate so that the strand will be prevented fromslipping longitudinally out of place when the filler strip is driveninto place. By applying this strand a close tit will be established andthere will be no danger of the filler strip having longitudinalmovement.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A combined tie plate and rail gripper comprising a plate to rest upona tie beneath a rail, spike-receiving openings being formed in the platein spaced relation to the inner side edge of the plate, the inner sideedge portion of said plate being thickened to form an upstanding beaddisposed openings and the inner side edge of the plate and having a lipalong its inner edge, abutments spaced inwardly from the outer edge ofthe plate to bear against a rail set upon the plate, and a filler torest upon the tie plate between said bead and the inner edge of a railbase with its outer edge portion engaged beneath the lip and'its inneredge portion overlapping the rail base, said filler having openings toregister with the spike-receiving openings or" the plate and at one endformed with a head to bear against an edge face of the plate and limitmovement of the filler when driven into place to secure properregistering of the openings in the plate and filler.

2. A combined tie plate and rail gripper comprising a plate to rest upona tie beneath a rail, spike-receiving openings being formed in the platein spaced relation to the inner side edge of the plate, a bead along theinner edge portion of said plate, means carried by said plate to engagea rail and brace the rail against outward movement, and a filler to holdthe rail in place engaged beneath said lip and having its inner edgeportion extended to overlap the rail base, said filler having openingsto register with the spikereceiving openings of the plate and adjacenteach opening being formed with a seat to re ceive the head of a spikeand prevent movement of the filler when spikes are driven into placethrough the openings of the filler and plate.

3. A tie plate and rail gripper comprising a plate to rest upon a tiebeneath a rail and formed with spike-receiving openings, prongsextending from the under face of theplate to between the engage in a tieand hold the plate in place thereon, certain of said prongs beinglocated adjacent the openings and other prongs extending longitudinallyof the plate and being spaced from each other longitudinally andtransversely of the plate and disposed in substantially ti -shaped pathbetween the spikereceivin openings, the prongs adjacent the openingsserving to guide spikes through the openings into a tie and brace. thespikes when driven into place, and means to secure a rail upon saidplate.

4. A tie plate and rail gripper comprising plate to rest upon a tiebeneath a rail, the

plate being formed with spike openings spaced from its inner edge,abutment means carried by said plate to engage a rail and hold the railagainst movement towards the outer side or the plate, a bead extendingalong the inner side edge portion of said plate and having a lipoverlying the plate, and a filler strip adapted to be driven into placebetween said bead and the inner side edge of a rail base and hold therail firmly against said abutment means, said strip having its outerside edge portion engaged beneath said lip and along its inner side edgebeing formed with a flange to engage over a rail base, spike openingsbeing formed in said strip to register with the openings in the plate.

5. A tie plate and rail gripper comprising a plate to rest upon a tiebeneath a rail, the plate being formed with spike openings spaced fromits inner edge, abutment means carried by said plate to engage a railand hold the rail against movement towards the outer side of the plate,a bead extending along the inner side edge portion of said plate andhaving a lip overlying the plate, and a filler strip adapted to bedriven into place between said bead and the inner side edge of a railbase and hold the rail firmly against said abutment means, said striphaving its outer side edge portion engaged beneathsaid lip and along itsinner side edge being formed with a flange to engage over a rail base,spike openings being formed in said strip to register with the openingsin the plate when the strip is driven into place, portions of the flangebetween the openings and free side edge of the flange being formed withseats for receiving heads of spikes driven through the openings into atie.

6. A tie plate and rail gripper comprising a plate to rest upon a tiebeneath a rail, the plate being formed with spike openings spaced fromits inner edge, abutment means carried by said plate to engage a railand hold the rail against movement towards the outer side of the plate,a bead extending along the inner side edge portion of said plate and having a lip overlying the plate, and a filler strip adapted to be driveninto place between said bead and the inner side edge of a rail base andhold the rail firmly against said abutment means, said strip having itsouter side edge portion engaged beneath said lip and along its innerside edge being formed with a flange to engage over a rail base, spikeopenings bee ingformed in said strip to register with the openings inthe plate when the strip is driven into place, portions of the flangebetween the openings and free side edge of the flange being formed withseats having depressed central portions curved upwardly towards theirends and adapted to receive heads of spikes and prevent longitudinalslippingv of the strip.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

JOHN W. HOOD. [I]. s.]

